A number of studies have shown that conducting polymers processed into films and coatings can be used in a wide variety of applications. These applications include corrosion protection, static dissipation from polymer fibers, textile/fiber reinforcement to provide microwave-absorbing materials with stable radioelectric properties, radar absorbing composites and photovoltaic materials. The principal barrier to the commercial use of conductive polymers in these types of applications and others has been the lack of a viable and economically feasible processing technique that can fabricate these polymers into mechanically tough, stable and high surface area architectures.
Conducting polymer films are typically produced by casting or deposition from solution. Films produced in these manners are fragile, have a relatively low surface area, and are not porous.
Conductive polymers are also spin deposited into coagulating solutions to form conductive fibers. This process produces relatively gross fibers having diameters of around 10–100 um. These fibers are also weak, and have relatively low surface area.